A few days ago I blogged about plans to professionalize my blog, and there were a lot of good comments. Thanks. As usual, I'm flattered by the company. Paul Easton's very funny. Further thoughts:
I accept the point of the commenters that a blog has a personal character and that for me to turn this into a Newspaper overnight would surely diminish it. I'm going to keep talking about my wife and my assimilation and my sexuality. Anyway, I couldn't make it a newspaper over night. My ambitions surrounding this blog seesaw. I looked at my Alexa numbers for the first time and felt grandiose. Then I get a day of 80 cents of ad revenue.
The core fact of this blog right now is that Some of it is real journalism, not just me bloviating, and I have made no money off it in 2-1/2 years (besides WRMEA picking some stuff up, thanks!); and I can't keep doing it. I thought I'd get an angel, hasn't happened. I pitched a story to one of my Mainstream Feemasters on McCain being surrounded by neocons and don't get an answer. These are the conditions of journalism today. Talking about this stuff here is a worthy enterprise, it goes without saying. But I can't support my family and mostly I need to quit wallowing in self-pity or I'll never grow up.
What to do? I'm going to put a donations can on the side. I'm going to have to do some real work. I'm going to tread water and keep on truckin and hope for a wave…
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You cheap stupid fuck! Why stop now?
We LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH and you are exposing US ALL TO SOOO MUCH WISDOM!!!
I'll donate ONE DOLLAR EVERY MONTH. YOU ARE SUCH A DOUCHE IT IS SOOOO AMUSING.
Don't quit Phil, even if it aint making you any money. Hell, Van Gogh only sold one painting in his life.
This is a very valuable blog and I think you represent a vital constituency. Hey, and we'd all miss you. I think even Witty would miss you.
I'd miss Phil the person.
I still wish he shifted his fixation to take me up on my offer for him to host a network of Chatauquas on various subjects throughout New England.
Grow up? Fat chance–but if it happens you'll leave that Frigidaire of a wife and reconnect with the Judaism you so despise. And then there'd be no reason for a blog.
I'd donate… but what about ads? is that an option?
Ideas for monetizing Mondoweiss.
1. Post book links with short statements as to why the books are important, with click through to Amazon. Invite commenters to post their own book recommendations, and make sure click through revenue comes to you.
2. Set up an Anti-AIPAC fundraising mechanism, whereby politicians who cross AIPAC and who then lose support, can solicit replacement funds. Charge a percentage for the service.
3. Develop a Mondoweiss giftshop of coffee mugs, T shirts, lapel pins, etc., mini-zen garden, through a vendor who sells such things, if you provide the logo/artwork and negotiate for as high a percentage as possible. Develop a signature gift item that uniquely expresses through art or design something fundamental about Mondoweiss.
4. Collect past columns into a Best of Mondoweiss book and publish it.
5. Launch Mondoweiss Radio, in which you provide a half hour of content, which you can try to syndicate. Ditto with video.
6. Develop a syndicated column, and pitch it to mainstream media. You may hit a stonewall initially, but, who knows?
7. Throw Mondoweiss gatherings, where readers can come to meet you and each other. Charge for attendance. Sell lots of T shirts and books.
8. Market yourself as a speaker and TV pundit.
9. Establish Mondoweiss memberships, for escalating dollar amounts, with the highest paid entitled to participate in a weekly conference call, which should be expertly facilitated to help build the sense of community, give people a chance to be heard and acknowledged, and engage on a topic or topics of mutual interest. Use it as a polling place to solicit input.
10. Seek sponsors for particular investigative news reporting projects. Your past employers won’t commission you to expose this or that? Ask you readers if they will commit x dollars to pay you to dig it out. Not sure how much you get paid for an article, but if you spread it far enough, it shouldn’t cost much.
Having trouble making money off the Gentiles? You really are confused! ;.)
Thanks for keeping us abreast of everything, Phil. I agree with Doppler, who said to "develop a syndicated column, and pitch it to mainstream media. You may hit a stonewall initially, but, who knows?"
Just keep plugging away. This stuff is starting to hit the mainstream, as you have stated repeatedly.
Another idea might be to get together with other like-minded individuals and see how collectively you might go about things. There is power in numbers, despite the initial lack of financial strength. I think it's great that so many from both sides of the aisle – left and right – have come together over this issue, and I look forward to continued cooperation in the future.
Phil, I understand your loss of heart at the prospect of continued moneyless endeavor. Looks to me like a full time job and a valuable one at that. I trust, however, that it is not entirely thankless as I'm sure the legions of your faithful readers (most of them silent) no doubt keep assuring you. I'm one of those who consult your blog daily and have learnt much from it. rarely found the time to comment, unfortunately. Often wondered how you keep on going in the face of meager financial rewards. Assumed you must be rich or the good wife provides (more power to her). Here and there I've enjoyed the personal touches and the occasional tangents. I believe it's partly what makes your blog so popular – the sense you give of the person behind it. None of us are just bags of opinions or vessels for ideas. To the best of my knowledge, some of us at least must also carry on living in the world as it is, as flawed as we are, which invariably includes the many compromises living entails. Real courage is being able to avoid at least some of the worst compromises (sometimes, erroneously, called temptations), at least the soul-infringing ones. By this yardstick, I often magine a necon's soul as a swiss cheese, a cyrrus cloud.
That being said, sometimes practicality intrudes, something which we all appreciate. Doppler's suggestions above are excellent. I like the idea of the Best of Mundoweiss offered for sale on the site. A collection box can't hurt. Noticed that the antiwar.org site was able to get over the 70k hurdle in good time. Many of your readers will happily contribute, no doubt, some more than others. Since many are Jewish, guilt will help -as many would love to be able to do what you do, but lack either or both the courage and the means. If Obama could do it so can you. Why not team up with a cyber designer to sell the usual paraphenelia? I might be able to help in this regard, but can't imagine you don't know many infinitely more talented people on the East Coast.
One idea I have is to compile the list of leading neocons along with 2-sentence biographies and have them up for sale (say, at $20. a pop, with biannual updates making it the gift that keeps on giving). I know I could use such a list so as not to mix my con's with my can'ts (something I always do, alas. There are just way too many Goldbergs out there). We could even give them an AIPAC-rating from rabid to tepid. just a thought here. Many more ideas where this one came from….
I'm sure many of your readers (including the ones who seem to hate your guts) will be delighted to pitch in as best they can. All you need to do is ask.
Does this blog get in the way of making a living?I suspect not. When you have a paying gig, you do that. The dilemma for all us "creative" workers in our post modern consumer capitalist economy is that what pays the rent is not why we went into the business in the first place. We all need that place where we say the truth, where we say what we would say if we weren't getting paid for it.
So. . . publish less, if you must, but keep this blog going.
Also, in my expereince, often the freebie work turns into something profitable down the road. Don't give this up now: you are in the vangard of something important.
Doppler's got the brains you need
Team up with him, as much as possible
He has not suggested anything that is not doable.
I wonder how many visitors typepad generates? And if you would get more viewers by being on Wordpress?
You would still keep your same web address.
Also there is Facebook and Myspace which I know Nothing about: except people duplicate (automatically) their blogs there. There is also no copyright on those places and they do not appear on search engines…. Food for thought.
Have you considered pitching to the European Market?
Some of us are fascinated by the way Israel Lobby strangles the land of the free…. Any glimpse of that society in the context of the real world would be welcome.
You could do the articles that follow the political evolution of some of the important personages of the American Jewish society: have they expressed the views about neocons? Palestine? Settlements? American aid to israel?
Guardian, Independent, Prospect all spring to mind in UK.
Just do what you can Phil, that's all anyone can expect. We will appreciate it, even if it's more sporadic.
'One idea I have is to compile the list of leading neocons along with 2-sentence biographies '
I have often thought that while we talk Lobby all the time, no-one has ever really limned it's limits, plumbed it's considerable depths. For every Adelson and Saban there are a legion of lesser lights who add up to an even greater threat. For every Dershowitz there are dozens of committed Zionist academics making life hard for colleagues who ask questions or register dissent, for every Krauthammer or Kristol there are lower profile op-editors and opinion mavens, for every big Feith or Libby-fish in the government barrel there must be loads of small fry doing their bit to clog up the arteries of free thought on behalf of Israel.
Of course, doing that will just make it harder for you to make a mark. You must know that it's the nature of your work rather than anything to do with it's quality that marginalises you. You must be doing something right, and you will only be patted on the head and financially rewarded if you toe the line more. But then you'd lose us.
I agree with Eva, but would point out that Europe and much of the rest of the world already has access to some clear-eyed commentary on Israel and the Lobby. It's America that needs it most (we all need Americans to have greater access to the truth) but if Obama manages to lose this thing (or meekly have it stolen from him a la Gore and Kerry) it may already be too late.
I'd suggest finding a 501c3 "pass-through" that would allow foundations to support you. It's probably a hassle, but worth it.
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